Access to affordable medicine

Healthcare is different from other industries for two major reasons. Firstly, monopoly arising out of intellectual property rights, which gives exclusivity and secondly, the high rate of obsolescence of drugs. Newer medications have to be continuously innovated to enable long term progress. Within this framework, we have to consider the adaptation of technologies which can dramatically improve and facilitate healthcare in India. The management of healthcare has to combine business with a humanitarian responsibility. Our Pharma Industry’s role is in saving and improving the quality of lives. We are the custodians of healthcare and this is a major responsibility. We at Cipla strongly believe that access to medicines at affordable prices is a fundamental human right and that none should be denied medication. This talk will address these issues besides pointing the directions of R&D relevant to Pharma industry. The role CIPLA played in containing the spread of AIDS around the world will also be highlighted.

Please note that a movie ‘Fire in the Blood’ on the role CIPLA has played in  treating AIDS in Africa will be screened right after Dr. Hamied's brief talk.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Y. K. Hamied obtained his Ph.D. in 1960 from the University of Cambridge under the tutelage of the Nobel laureate Lord Alexander Todd. He joined Cipla the same year, was appointed its MD in 1976, Chairperson in 1989 and continues to be the Chairman in a non-executive role. For his distinguished service to the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hamied was awarded the Padma Bhushan (2005), Honorary Doctorates by University of Cambridge (2014) and IIT Bombay (2017), Public Health Hero award from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (2017) and Valor Award from the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) Foundation (2017). Dr. Hamied has been the recipient of several lifetime achievement awards and he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.